We’ve witnessed the traditional boundaries between business and leisure travel become increasingly blurred, giving rise to the concept of ‘bleisure’.

With employees seeking to make the most of work trips by incorporating leisure activities, corporate travel managers must now rethink their policies and adapt to this evolving landscape while enabling convenience and safety for those travelling.

Bleisure is not just a passing trend – it reflects a broader shift in how professionals view travel. With flexible work arrangements becoming the norm, employees are now seizing opportunities to extend their business trips for personal means. FREENOW’s recent survey concluded that 75% of European business travellers are interested in incorporating bleisure when they travel for work. 

This shift is particularly prevalent among younger professionals, who prioritise a strong work-life balance and are more inclined to take advantage of extended stays in new locations. Companies that recognise and support this shift will be well positioned to enhance employee satisfaction while fostering a more engaged and productive workforce.

Balancing freedom and responsibility 

The rise of leisure presents both challenges and opportunities for corporate travel managers. One key concern is duty of care. While employers have a responsibility to ensure their employees’ safety during any business travel commitment, what happens when that trip extends into an employee’s personal time? Businesses must determine how to support employees while mitigating potential liabilities. This could include providing access to preferred transport providers, outlining safety recommendations or ensuring that any corporate travel insurance covers blended types of travel.

For instance, if an employee attends a conference internationally for work but extends the stay over the weekend for leisure and is involved in a serious road traffic accident, who is liable? Some employers will deny the liability is theirs, arguing that the trip extension falls outside of their duty of care obligations. However, if they’ve booked their employee’s entire trip – including the additional days – through their company’s corporate travel platform, legal scrutiny would suggest that the employer bears some responsibility. The ambiguity in such scenarios highlights the need for clearer corporate policies outlining where a company’s duty of care ends. 

While business travellers don’t always fully acknowledge the safety risks involved in ground transportation, travel managers certainly do. More than half of the travel managers surveyed (56%) in the latest FREENOW and Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) report said safety risks are one of the top challenges they face. To mitigate these risks, corporate travel managers should integrate ground transport into their travel risk management policies, including clear guidelines for approved transportation modes and transport partners. 

Taxis are arguably the most regulated mode of ground transportation and by partnering with taxi ride-hailing apps, businesses can acquire important data that aggregates incident reporting, vendor performance monitoring and identifies risk patterns that could inform protocol and keep business travellers safer in the long run. Taxi apps like FREENOW offer business travellers peace of mind by providing key details about the vehicle, driver and destination and have added reassurance with safety features like ‘share your trip’, which allows trips to be shared with friends or family so they know where the passenger is and when they arrive at their destination.

The role of mobility solutions

With employees not only commuting between meetings but looking to explore new cities beyond their business obligations, access to flexible, seamless transport options is more important than ever.

The ability to book transport through integrated platforms – taxis, rideshares, e-scooters and public transport – via a single platform ensures employees can navigate new locations effortlessly. Real-time travel updates reduce uncertainty as embedded in-app algorithms synchronise factors such as distance, driver availability and traffic conditions to optimise the route-planning experience for users. Automated expense tracking tools and seamless integration with corporate policies simplify travel management for businesses, with added AI-powered features personalising user journeys for added convenience. This flexibility not only improves the overall travel experience but also reduces stress, making bleisure trips more enjoyable and productive.

The journey onwards 

For corporate travel managers, bleisure means developing policies that provide structure for employees without stifling their autonomy. Proactively incorporating bleisure-friendly policies, leveraging smart technology for travel management and partnering with trusted mobility providers will enable businesses to accommodate the changing demands of modern business travellers. In doing so, they can ensure that business travel remains both productive and rewarding for employees, reinforcing corporate travel programmes as an essential component of a progressive, people-focused workplace.

Felix Brand is the Chief Strategy Officer at FREENOW.